


The Sun Shines for You

by ExyEimi (Siyah_Kedi)



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Coma, Emotional!Andrew, Fluffy I guess, M/M, Out of Body Experiences, Posting from my phone, Renee sees ghosts, Yeah I still can't tag, soft?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-04 17:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14024997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siyah_Kedi/pseuds/ExyEimi
Summary: Neil wakes up in a hospital bed and follows Andrew home.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrote this because I fell asleep last night thinking of Neil having an OBE and witnessing Andrew fall apart without him.

It’s dark.  There’s a measured hooting sound nearby, but he can’t pinpoint it.  Something cool against his skin. 

He’s aware of all the sensory input he can gather, but his eyes won’t open, he’s locked in a lightless room, or he’s gone blind.  He can’t see anything. It’s a terrifying thought. A metallic scrape draws his attention, and he focuses on it. Someone’s touching his hand, a bare brush of contact, but his nerves are on fire from it.  His instinct is to yank his hand away, but he doesn’t so much as twitch. The steady noise resolves itself into a heart monitor going steadily, and he can hear the humming of other machines in the background.  Something smells like detergent and bleach, and he abruptly realizes he’s in the hospital. Nothing else is forthcoming from his memory, so he thinks he has a head injury, because the last thing he can recall is Andrew’s mocking salute as he goes onto the court for their game.  The touch on his hand comes again, and then someone is clutching at his fingers like it will bring him back from wherever he went. 

“Neil,” Andrew says, and he jumps but nothing happens.  He’s never heard that tone in Andrew’s voice, he sounds  _ wrecked, _ and Neil will kill whoever made him sound like that.  “Neil, you have to wake up. It’s been a week.” 

Oh.  Neil is the one who made him sound like that.  The heart monitor continues steadily. Neil can’t figure out why he can’t move, or open his eyes, and he tries to think of something terrifying that will speed his heart rate up so Andrew knows he’s there, he’s listening, but not even the thought of his father coming back can affect his pulse.  Andrew’s fingers are a fire against his hand. 

“The doctors say talking to you helps,” Andrew says roughly.  Neil longs to squeeze him, to hug him, to react somehow. “I don’t even know if you can hear me.” 

_ I can! _ Neil’s shout is silent.   _ Andrew, I’m here.  I’m fine. _

He knows he isn’t fine, but he wants to say it to make Andrew angry, just to make the pain in Andrew’s voice go away.  His mouth doesn’t move. The heart monitor plugs away steadily. 

“I feel stupid sitting here talking to you like this,” Andrew continues.  Neil rages against the cage of his body. “But it’s been a week and they said that the longer you go without waking up, the less of a chance you have of ever coming back.” 

_ I’m back, I’m here, I can hear you! _

Andrew’s breath catches in his throat.  Neil wants to scream. 

“You have to wake up, Neil,” Andrew whispers, and there’s something in his voice that Neil’s never heard before.  “Neil. Wake up. Come back to me.” A pause, and then – 

Andrew sniffs, and Neil feels his hand trembling.  There’s a pressure against the mattress as Andrew moves.  There’s hair on his arm, and Neil thinks Andrew put his head down, leaning on him.  There’s something hot dripping onto his skin. 

“Neil, wake up,” Andrew says, and now the whole bed is shaking with the force of Andrew’s emotions.  “ _ Please. _ ” 

Neil feels his heart breaking.  Andrew hates the word please. Andrew can’t even stand to  _ hear _ it, much less say it.  And now he’s begging Neil to wake up.  He’s  _ crying. _  And Neil can’t do anything but lay there.  Neil struggles, swimming against the blackness that surrounds him, and then suddenly there’s an almost audible  _ rip _ as Neil tears his way free of it, and the hospital room comes into sight.  Neil nearly falls over in his relief. He can see Andrew hunched over the bed, shoulders shaking as he hides his face against the mattress, still clinging to Neil’s hand – 

Neil looks down at himself in the hospital bed and screams.  


	2. Chapter 2

Andrew doesn’t react to the sound, although now Neil can hear himself as well as see what’s going on.   As the sound trails off, he starts noticing other things. The heart monitor is still going steady beside him, his chest is still rising and falling with each breath, and there’s a thin golden thread reaching from Neil’s chest to his body.  

_ I’m not dead, _ he tells himself, the relief enough to send him to his knees.  He gets up a second later after realizing he can’t see Andrew over the bed from that angle.  Neil goes to him, and puts a hand on his shoulder, but Andrew doesn’t react. 

‘Andrew,’ he says.   There’s no reaction from Andrew, who continues to cry quietly, clutching at Neil-in-the-bed’s hand, while spirit-Neil reaches for his hair.  He can feel the strands in his fingers, but he can’t seem to move them, and he guesses that Andrew can’t feel him. 

“Please wake up, Neil,” Andrew says again.  Neil crumples beside him. 

‘I’m awake,’ he says.  Andrew doesn’t hear him.  ‘Andrew, I’m never going to leave you.’ 

Andrew sits up and wipes his face; his eyes are red, tear tracks streaking down his face.  He wipes his nose and then rubs at his face, swearing under his breath. The door swings open to reveal a petite woman wearing green scrubs.  

“I’m sorry, Mr. Minyard,” she says.  Andrew nods and climbs out of the seat, heading towards the door.  Neil looks at his body, lying unresponsive on the hospital bed, and then at Andrew’s retreating back.  

‘Andrew, wait!’ 

Neil doesn’t think about what he’s doing, but he knows he can’t let Andrew leave without him.  He nearly crashes into him when he stops just outside the door, and then finds himself passing through Andrew’s body like a ghost.  It’s not unpleasant, and leaves him feeling warm. Andrew doesn’t react at all; he just makes his way down the hallway and ducks into a bathroom.  Neil faces the door he can’t touch, and wonders if he’s going to have to wait until Andrew’s done. Then he thinks about passing through Andrew’s body, and walks right through the door.  

Andrew is hunched over the sink, splashing water on his face to hide the fact that he’s been crying.  Neil hates seeing the hopeless look in his eyes as he studies himself in the mirror. When Neil moves behind him, there’s only one reflection looking back, and Neil tries again to put his hand on Andrew’s shoulder.  It sits there like he’s actually touching Andrew, but there’s no response, no evidence that Andrew can feel him there at all. When he squeezes, his hand slips through Andrew’s skin and his hand falls back to his side.  

‘How am I supposed to reassure you if you don’t know I’m here?’ Neil asks him, frustrated already.  

Andrew scrubs at his face one more time, then strides out of the restroom with his normal blank expression fixed in place.  Neil hurries after him. Nicky and Kevin are in the waiting room when Andrew and Neil arrive, and they look up at him with palpable hope.  Andrew shakes his head once, and Neil watches as their faces fall. Nicky begins crying quietly, and Kevin looks like he’s not far from tears, himself.  

‘Hello?’ Neil tries, but no one reacts.  

“We’ll come back tomorrow,” Kevin says.  They rise from their chairs and begin filing towards the door.  Neil trails after them, fitting himself into the back seat of the Maserati while they belt themselves in.  

“It’s been a week!” Nicky bursts out.  “I didn’t even think he got hit that hard!” 

Kevin’s mouth twists.  “He didn’t,” he says. Neil still can’t remember what happened, and listens eagerly as they discuss him.  “But swelling in the brain can cause damage. You know that even if he wakes up, he might not be the same.” 

Nicky sobs quietly.  Andrew’s fingers tighten around the steering wheel until his knuckles are white, and his lips are a thin line across his face, but he says nothing.  

“He has to wake up,” Nicky says.  “He has to come back to us.” 

‘I’m still here,’ Neil says.  ‘I’m not going anywhere.’ 

They don’t hear him.  

#

Neil follows Andrew back into their dorm room and watches in silence as Andrew tears his shirt off, pulling on one of Neil’s in its place.  His jeans join the discarded shirt on the floor and Andrew stands there in Neil’s shirt and his boxers, digging through Neil’s drawers. He pulls out a pair of Neil’s sweatpants and yanks them over his legs before flopping onto his bed and curling into himself.  Neil sits on the edge of the mattress, but there’s no indication he’s there. He can’t even touch the blankets. Andrew lays in silence for what feels like a long time, then gets back up with a scowl and picks his cigarettes up off the nightstand. He flings the window open and lights up, the cherry illuminating his face in the dim light of the dorm room.  

Neil watches him, and finds that he enjoys the chance to watch Andrew alone, watch the play of emotions across his face as he thinks in silence.  He draws his knees up and drops his forehead to them with a shudder. 

“Fucking asshole,” he mutters.  Neil reaches out for him, but all he can do is lightly rest his hand – unseen and unfelt – on Andrew’s back.  Andrew, who is wearing his clothes while he’s in the hospital. Andrew, who cried over him. 

‘I love you,’ Neil says, knowing it’s something he’ll never have a chance to say face-to-face.  He’s starting to remember what happened – it was during the game, an illegal check that knocked him to the ground.  His head hit the court inside his helmet, and must have rattled his brain. Kevin said  _ swelling _ and  _ brain damage. _  Andrew says he’s been in a coma for a week.  There’s nothing in his memory between hitting the court and becoming aware of Andrew in the hospital, but he saw the date on Andrew’s phone earlier, so he knows it’s not a lie.  

Andrew finishes his cigarette, stubbing it out against the window sill and leaving the butt where it falls, before getting back into bed.  He’s usually a restful sleeper, Neil knows from experience, but tonight he tosses and turns, rolling from one edge of the bed to another. Neil has lost track of the time, but it’s been hours since Andrew laid down when he throws back the blankets and then climbs up into Neil’s bunk.  Neil watches him curiously, and feels himself smile when Andrew puts his head on Neil’s pillow, inhales once, and then relaxes. He doesn’t move again until his alarm goes off. 

Neil watches him wake up instantly, one arm under Neil’s pillow, and the other flung out to where Neil should be lying next to him.  He watches as Andrew takes in where he’s at, and why Neil’s not beside him, and then Andrew’s face scrunches up in silent agony. Neil reaches out for him, but Andrew doesn’t know he’s there.  

He doesn’t follow Andrew into the bathroom out of respect for his privacy, but he lays on Andrew’s bed and inhales, the way Andrew did in his bunk, and feels some of the tension drain out of him when he can smell Andrew’s chocolate-scented soap and the spicy aftershave he uses sometimes.  He wonders what Andrew can smell on his pillow that relaxed him last night. 

Andrew comes out of the bathroom fully dressed – in another one of Neil’s shirts – and Neil follows him through his silent routine.  Neil knows that Andrew likes flavored creamer in his coffee, and is startled when Andrew sucks down an entire mug of plain black coffee.  He doesn’t eat anything, either. 

‘Andrew, you should take better care of yourself,’ Neil tells him, but Andrew can’t hear him and doesn’t respond.  Neil sighs hopelessly. 

He follows Andrew, Kevin, and the others onto the court for morning practice.  They have another game coming up soon, and Neil is more surprised by the fact that Andrew is actually on court  _ practicing _ when the others come in.  Most of them avoid looking at Andrew, and it’s not until he hears the clatter of a dropped racquet that he looks back at them again.  Renee is staring at him like she’s seen a ghost. 

At  _ him _ , at Neil, she can  _ see him. _

With a stifled cry, Renee runs off the court, leaving the rest of the team staring after her.  Andrew is scowling, but Neil knows enough about Andrew’s expressions to know that he’s confused and doesn’t like it.  Neil doesn’t think twice about it – he follows Renee into the girl’s locker room. 

He’s been in there once before, when the boy’s room was covered in blood after his father’s men played a cruel trick to scare him, but he didn’t pay much attention.  He still doesn’t, looking for Renee. She’s laying on the bench, sobbing. 

‘Renee?’

Neil smiles when she jerks upright.   _ She can hear him! _

“No, no, no,” she says.  

‘What’s wrong?’

She twitches, but the other girls are crowding into the room, asking what happened, why she’s crying.  Neil steps back and goes through Lizzy. It’s an unpleasant feeling. 

“I saw a ghost,” Renee tells them.  “Or a hallucination.” She won’t meet Neil’s eyes.  Neil wants them to go away so he can talk to her. 

‘I’m not a ghost,’ he tells her.  ‘I don’t think?’ He doesn’t know what he is.  He knows Renee has heard him when her shoulders stiffen.  ‘Get them out of here so I can tell you,’ he adds. 

Renee does so, shooing the others away with a sweet smile.  As soon as they’re alone, her eyes narrow and Neil remembers why he doesn’t like her much.  “What the hell,” she says, and it’s startling to hear Renee swearing. 

‘I’m in a coma?’ Neil says, shrugging.  ‘I guess?’

“How are you  _ here? _ ” 

Neil shrugs again.  ‘I didn’t want Andrew to be alone.’

Her face softens immediately.  “He’s been going out of his mind since you went to the hospital,” she tells him.  “Does he know you’re here?” 

Neil scowls.  ‘He can’t see me,’ he says.  ‘No one can see or hear me except, apparently, you.’ 

She absorbs this information in silence, and then nods to herself.  She cleans herself up with the same perfunction that Andrew took care of himself at the hospital, and then goes back onto the court.  Andrew’s sitting on the bench waiting for her, and the rest of the Foxes are clearly waiting on her as well, but no one’s willing to get close to Andrew in order to talk to her.  Neil trails after her. 

“Something to share with the class, Walker?” Andrew drawls.  There’s no sign of the pain and loneliness that Neil knows he’s feeling.  Renee looks over her shoulder at him, and settles next to Andrew in silence.  

“Should I tell him?” she asks, looking at Neil.  Andrew follows her gaze into what is apparently empty air to him, and Neil nods.  “Neil’s here,” Renee says simply. Andrew reacts like a bomb – he jerks back, folds in on himself, then explodes outwards, so quickly that Neil can’t follow his movement.  One minute he’s sitting on the bench, the next he’s got Renee pinned down, one hand on her throat and the other holding a knife to her kidney. 

“That’s not fucking funny,” Andrew says.  The rest of the team is reacting in slow motion, hurrying to get the door open and stop Andrew from killing her.  

“I thought he was a ghost,” she says.  “I thought he was dead. He said he wanted to be next to you.” 

This is strange enough to draw Andrew back, and he looks around as if maybe he just missed Neil somehow.  

‘Renee, tell him no,’ Neil says when the others come rushing over.  

“He says no, Andrew,” she repeats.  Andrew goes still, and lets Wymack take the knife out of his hand before stumbling backwards.  He hits the ground with a  _ whumpf. _

Wymack is bellowing, the others are talking loudly, everyone’s in an uproar, and Neil can only see Andrew sitting there like a broken puppet, his strings cut.  

The three of them ignore the tumult.  Andrew looks straight at Renee. “What the fuck,” he says.  

“I don’t know either.” 

‘If I knew what I did, I’d tell you,’ Neil says, kneeling beside Andrew.  He reaches out, but Andrew doesn’t react. Renee does, however, and Andrew looks over at Neil, looking through him as his eyes scan for Neil’s presence.  ‘Last night, I heard Andrew talking to me but I couldn’t move, so I … got up? But I left my body behind.’ 

Renee gasps.  “Andrew and I need to talk privately,” she tells the others.  Wymack scowls, and the others are still protesting, but Renee looks directly at Andrew.  

“She just startled me,” he says calmly.  “I’m not going to kill her.” 

Wymack keeps the knife.  He herds the rest of the team back onto the court, threatening to sign them all up for a marathon if they don’t get moving.  

“He heard you,” Renee parrots when they’re mostly alone again.  “He said he got up but left his body.” She’s frowning, wondering how Neil is still alive.  Andrew has gone still again, and Neil remembers him telling Neil that he doesn’t even know if Neil can hear him.  

“How much did he hear?” Andrew growls.  

‘That’s private,’ Neil says.  ‘I’m not telling you what he said.’ 

Renee smiles, of all things.  “It’s private,” she repeats. “He won’t tell me what you said.” 

“I need to know something so I know you’re not fucking with me,” Andrew whispers hatefully.  Neil tries to think of something Renee can know that won’t embarrass or piss off Andrew. 

‘Last night,’ he says.  ‘He laid down, then got up and got a cigarette.’ 

Renee dutifully parrots it back to Andrew.  

“Then what?”

‘Then he climbed into my bed,’ Neil says, rolling his eyes.  Renee’s smile is like sunshine as she tells Andrew what Neil witnessed.  Andrew whips around, looking for Neil again. 

“He’s right in front of you, his hands on your shoulders,” Renee tells him.  Andrew puts his hands on his own shoulders, and Neil feels them pass through him.  

‘I hate not being able to touch him,’ he whines.  

“Your hands went through him,” Renee shares.  Neil can feel Andrew shudder, a full body tremor.

“You’re really here?” he asks, so quietly that Neil almost doesn’t hear him from six inches away.  

‘I’m here,’ he says.  Renee repeats it for him.  This is going to get very old, very fast.  Why is  _ she _ the only one who can see and hear him?  Andrew shudders again. ‘I love you, Andrew,’ he whispers.  Not quietly enough that Renee can’t hear him, though. She’s blushing. 

“Should I repeat that?” 

‘He won’t want to hear it.’ 

“Repeat what?” asks Andrew.  

“He thinks you won’t want to hear it,” Renee tells him, and then focuses on Neil.  “I think he will.” 

“I want to,” Andrew says immediately. “What did he say?” 

Renee’s voice is soft and full of emotion Neil can’t name.  “He said he loves you.” 


	3. Chapter 3

Andrew’s expression crumbles, reforms.  Crumbles again. Neil pushes his hands through his hair.  ‘I’m sorry! What are you thinking? Why are you looking like that?’ 

“He’s panicking, Andrew, say something,” Renee says, cutting through both of them.  

“I can’t,” Andrew whispers, and throws himself away, practically running.  Neil falls to the ground. 

‘I told you he didn’t want to hear it,’ he tells her accusingly.  

“I think he wanted to hear it from you,” she replies.  “Go make sure he doesn’t crash the car.” 

Neil looks around, and realizes Andrew is no longer in the building.  He takes off after him, wondering what Renee meant about crashing. To his surprise, he finds Andrew in the parking lot, and slides through the door to put himself in the passenger seat just before Andrew tears out of the space, revving the engine as he drives away.  Neil sits quietly, since Andrew can’t hear him anyway, and watches to find out where they’re going. Somehow, he’s not surprised when they arrive at the hospital. Andrew goes through the doors like a tropical storm, and Neil trails after him. The nurse on duty apparently recognizes Andrew despite the exy gear, and doesn’t say anything when he flings himself into the elevator.  Neil is surprised to find his body exactly how he left it when Andrew picks up his hand and squeezes it. 

“Fucking wake up and say that to my face, you asshole,” Andrew says, and Neil is swamped with both fear and elation.  

‘I don’t know how!’ 

Andrew sinks into the chair he’d occupied the night before, and Neil looks at the thread connecting himself to his body.  It looks thicker now for some reason. The heart monitor trips and then speeds up. Andrew looks up and then leans over Neil’s face.  Neil can feel his heart pounding in his chest. He can feel Andrew’s fingers twined with his own, even though Andrew is touching his body and Neil isn’t in it right now.   He squeezes his hand, and Andrew jerks, looking down at them. 

“Was that –”

Neil squeezes again, and Andrew sinks into the chair, pole-axed.  

“Wake up, Neil,” he says.  Neil moves forward and watches as the tether to his body thickens even more.  Then he’s lying on the bed, Andrew’s fingers nearly crushing his hand, and he’s looking up at Andrew through glazed glass.  He blinks once and Andrew becomes clear. 

“An-”

“Awake,” Andrew murmurs, and then collapses to the floor.  Neil’s heart rate spikes on the monitor, and draws a nurse into the room.  She takes one look at Andrew and calls an emergency code. Neil watches in silence as they crowd in, putting Andrew onto a stretcher and moving him to another bed.  They move to take him out of the room, and Neil makes a noise. 

“We’re taking him for some testing,” the nurse says.  “I need to ask you a few questions, okay?” 

“’Kay,” Neil agrees.  She asks who the president is, where he’s at, and what his exy position is.  Neil answers clearly, and she explains that he’s been in a coma for a week – which he already knew – and that he needs to stay a few more days while they make sure he’s really okay.  All Neil wants is to see Andrew, and for a moment he thinks maybe he’s hallucinating him as he strides back in through the door. 

“Low blood sugar,” he says, and now Neil thinks he’s going to cry.  He’s awake and Andrew is  _ here _ and everything is going to be okay. 

“I love you,” he says.  “To your face.” 

Andrew grins fiercely.  “I hate you,” he answers, but Neil knows him well enough to know what he means.  Later they’ll talk about how Andrew’s voice brought him out of unconsciousness, and how Neil knows he wore Neil’s clothing, and discuss out of body experiences and everything else, but for now he’s alive and awake, and Andrew is there, and everything is perfect. 


End file.
